The men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark and put it in the house of Abinadab and consecrated his son Eleazar to keep it. It remained at Kirjath Jearim for twenty years (v1,2). We don’t know why they didn’t return it to the tabernacle, where it really belonged, but they evidently revered it by consecrating Eleazar to look after it. We are not told if he was a Levite or a priest, but they did seem to care for it. I guess that all did not go smoothly for Israel because v2 tells us that all the house of Israel lamented after The LORD. They were still not right with God, and they were still riled by the Philistines.
Samuel had either been absent all this time or silent, but suddenly he re-appears. He clearly speaks to all Israel, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” (V3,4)
There was an immediate response for they put away the Baals and Ashtoreths, and served The LORD only. One might ask, ‘Why had he not spoken before, especially when the ark was put in the battle?’ Hophni and Phinehas were the priests in charge, and maybe, Samuel knew his place as a subordinate, or he had been elsewhere serving The LORD. I can’t imagine, for one moment, that he would have consented to what they had done. Perhaps he had held his peace, until now. Hophni and Phinehas were dead, as was Eli, so, maybe he was hurriedly put in charge and had to rectify the situation.
He called the nation to repentance. They needed to return to The LORD with all their hearts and then put away the foreign gods.
Samuel told them to gather people to Mizpah and he would pray for them (v5,6). Their obedience would be shown by gathering together at Mizpah, but they needed God’s help for the future and that could only be obtained through prayer. The people gathered together and drew water and poured it out before The LORD and fasted that day. They confessed that they had sinned before The LORD. The pouring out of the water was like their confession before God. It is vital to our relationship with God that we confess our sin before Him, for all sin is against God. We come to Him with nothing and receive from Him, forgiveness and blessing. Samuel judged them there which means accepting and dealing with their sin. Sin leads to punishment, but God blesses with forgiveness and for us, The Lord Jesus took our punishment and took the judgment for us.
The Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah and, no doubt, thought that they were afraid because they were crying out to God. They took advantage and came against Israel (v7). This made Israel very afraid. Maybe the Philistines thought that Israel’s apparent trust in God had not been very successful before, even though they had brought the ark with them, but they were wrong.
At least Israel did something right. They asked Samuel to pray to God for them (v8,9). Their previous scheme of taking the ark into battle led to disaster. Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a burnt offering to The LORD and prayed for the people. The LORD answered him. I suppose the picture of the young innocent lamb is of none other than The Lord Jesus Christ, The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is our sacrifice, and we need no other, he was slain once for all.
Even as he was offering the young lamb, The LORD was answering his plea (v10-12) even though the battle had not yet been fought. The LORD thundered loudly upon the Philistines and confused them. They didn’t know what they were doing, and Israel drove them back to Beth Car. It was an amazing victory brought about by God Himself. If only they had done the right thing previously when they took the ark into battle thinking it would give them victory. This time Samuel led them into trusting God Himself, not the ark.
Giving all the glory to God, Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Shen and called it Ebenezer, which means, “Thus far has The LORD helped us”. This form of victory only comes through repentance and humility before God. This stone was not an icon but simply a form of remembrance for Israel to remind them that victory comes only through God and being obedient to Him.
The LORD answered Samuel’s prayer and the Philistines were defeated for the rest of Samuel’s life. The cities taken by the Philistines were restored to Israel from Enron to Gath and there was peace between Israel and the Amorites (v13,14) and he judged Israel for the rest of his life often going as a circuit judge to Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah, but always returning to his home base in Ramah, where he regularly judged and worshiped The LORD.
So many people today are wanderers, often through no fault of their own as their work takes them from place to place. Some, however, wander from church to church and never seem to be happy. Sadly, if something doesn’t suit them, they go somewhere else, but it seems to go on. We can never be of service for The Lord if we don’t settle anywhere. How can we encourage others to attend our fellowship if we are unstable? It is important that we remain loyal and reliable. Samuel went from place to place in The LORD’s service, but always returning to base.
